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Belle knew that she could get through to him. She believed in it like she believed in their true love. True love’s kiss can break any curse. There was no caveat to that. It was as true in the Enchanted Forest as it was in Storybrooke. Though her last attempt had failed, she still knew there was a way.
She tried to keep herself busy in the shop so she wouldn’t have to think about it. Rumple never threw anything out. How could he? He was a collector, and he never knew what seemingly useless broken teacup or well-worn coat with its previous owner’s stray hairs stuck on it would prove useful later. But his store was a mess. There was no rhyme or reason to the back room. None that she could discern anyway. So she spent her days cataloguing items and placing them in meticulously labeled boxes.
An old compass and astrolabe went into a box with a GPS and maps of the surrounding area. “Navigation,” she wrote on the box. “Circa 1600s to present day.”
She came across an ivory satin pillow and remembered. At first, she had thought it had been an act of kindness, it would have been the first one he would have shown her, but it was just another one of his jokes. To muffle the sounds of her crying, he had said. So he could get back to spinning endless strands of gold. She pressed it to her face. It still held her scent.
She didn’t expect something like a pillow to affect her so strongly, but soon she was sobbing in his shop. Hope and purpose gone, she knelt beside mildewing cardboard boxes and wept.
Then, suddenly, as though she had run out of tears, she stopped. And with a new determination, she stuck out her chin. “It has to work,” she said as she tucked the pillow under her arm and headed out to the farm house.
The cellar door was unlocked. That should have been her first clue. But when she saw Rumple—still locked in his cage like an animal—all thoughts of caution and self-preservation flew out of her head.
He was spinning, of course. He was so focused on the wheel that he didn’t even notice her.
“Rumple,” she whispered. “It’s me.”
He didn’t look up. She wouldn’t have thought he had heard her if it hadn’t been for a slight pause in the wheel.
“What does Zelena want with all this gold?”
“I told you, Belle.” He still wasn’t looking at her. “It calms me. Now go. Zelena will be back.”
“I’m not afraid of her.” Belle wished that were true. “I told you, true love can break any curse.”
“This is no curse, dearie.” Insanity slipped back into his voice.
Belle wrapped her fingers around the bars. “Unlock your cage, Rumple. You can do it.”
He stopped spinning and looked at her for the first time since she came. “It’s not the lock that keeps me in here. Go, Belle. Before it’s too late.”
“Oh, but my lovelies,” said an overly sweet voice coming from the entrance to the cellar. “It already is.”
Startled, Belle turned. Zelena was framed by the door and silhouetted by the setting sun. In her right hand—hung loosely at her side—she held Rumple’s dagger.
“Sorry to interrupt this little lovers’ reunion.” She walked towards them slowly, relishing the look of surprise and fear in Belle’s eyes. “What’s this?” With the tips of her long fingers she stroked the lace edges of the satin pillow in Belle’s hands. “How sweet. To brighten up his cage.”
Belle snatched the pillow from her touch, as though that could keep Zelena from anything. To demonstrate her power, Zelena flicked a finger, and the pillow turned to smoke in Belle’s hands and disappeared. With another flick, it was in Rumple’s cage.
“It really does tie the room together, don’t you think?” Zelena smiled and took a moment to admire the cage. “Cozy, almost. Now, my dear,” she said, turning to Belle. “What were you doing here before I interrupted? Not another foolish notion that all he needs is true love’s kiss, is it? Apparently I didn’t make it clear to you that I control him.”
“Not his heart,” Belle said with defiance.
Zelena laughed as though a heart were the most inconsequential of things. “And what would I need with that?” She toyed with the tip of the Dark One’s dagger with her fingers so much like claws. A faint and sinister smile played on her face. “I don’t think you understand the power of this dagger.” She sounded almost baffled.
“I don’t think you understand the power of love.”
Zelena laughed again. The sound of it sent shivers down Belle’s spine. “I’ve no doubt he loves you.” She flicked her wrist in the direction of Rumple’s cage.
Belle was surrounded by smoke. She coughed, and when the smoke cleared, she was by Rumple’s side, locked in his cage.
Zelena looked at the two of them captured and smiled. “As I was saying, I know he loves you, but that won’t stop him from hurting you. Not if I command it.” She flicked her wrist again.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Rumple lashed out with his hand and struck Belle across the face. She stumbled backwards.
“Belle,” Rumple shouted, shocked and angry by his own action. He reached out to catch her before she fell to the hard packed dirt floor.
“Let her fall!” Zelena hissed.
Rumple obeyed, though as gently as he could. He lowered Belle to the floor, slipping the satin pillow she’d brought under her head. He wiped blood from the corner of her mouth. “I’m sorry, Belle. I love you.”
“How sweet. And how dull and useless. I can’t do anything with love.” The cage door sprung open with a swish of Zelena’s fingers, and she strode into the cage. She held up the Dark One’s dagger and caressed it lovingly. “But I can do something with this.” She knelt down beside Belle and slid the dagger along the length of Belle’s shirt, popping off all the buttons.
Belle gasped and tried to close her blouse. Zelena just smiled and leaned towards Rumple. “You know what I want you to do,” she whispered in his ear and kissed his cheek. She walked out of the cage and locked the door behind her.
“Rumple, what...”
But Rumple wasn’t listening, he grabbed Belle’s shoulders and forced her into the hard floor.
“You’re hurting me.”
“Not me.” Rumple’s voice was barely more than a groan. “It’s Zelena. Please believe, it’s Zelena.” He straddled Belle’s body and, with one hand, held both her wrists tightly. With the other, he flipped up her skirt and tore off her stockings.
Belle kicked and choked back a sob. “Rumple, please. Stop.”
Rumple watched Belle’s eyes well up with tears. “I can’t,” he said.
“Get on with it, please,” Zelena said. She was clutching the bars of Rumple’s cage and looked in at them eagerly.
Rumple tossed Belle onto her stomach. He put a knee on her back and wrenched her arms behind her. Belle didn’t want to give Zelena the satisfaction, but she cried out from the pain. Rumple bit his lip and cried too. He reached for the fine chains of gold he’d spun and wrapped them around her wrists. He pinned her legs with his, his shins digging into the backs of her thighs, and ripped her panties down to her knees. Belle’s bare ass seemed to glow in the dim light of the cellar. With one hand, Rumple pulled his own pants down. With the other, he fingered the folds between Belle’s legs as she continued to cry into the satin pillow.
Zelana rolled her eyes. “At this rate, lover boy, we’re going to be here all night. I didn’t ask you to make love to her.” Her voice was low and dangerous. Her eyes flicked down past his waist to his erection. “I see you’re eager for it. Good. I want you to enjoy this, Dark One. I want you to show her who’s in charge.”
At that, Belle felt Rumple slam into her. Over and over again, he drove the length of his cock as far into Belle as he could, deeper each time, as though carving out new space inside her.
"Rumplestiltskin! Stop!" she cried. Her words came out muffled into the pillow. She tried to free her hands, but with each movement, the gold chains just bit into her wrists more deeply.
Behind her, Rumple continued thrusting, his fingers digging into her hips. It’d never been like this before. He’d always treated her gently. Even when she would beg for harder or more, he’d do it, but gently. Rumple had known that his love for Belle was the one thing that kept him human and fought off the darkness inside him.
But with Zelena holding the dagger, love and gentleness wasn’t an option. This was about control. A perverse showing of Zelena’s power to command Rumple.
“Faster,” Zelena cried. Rumple obeyed, pounding against Belle in a fierce rhythm. Belle feared she would rip in two.
Zelena squeezed the bars of the cage, and Belle felt Rumple’s hands travel up to her chest and grab hold of her breasts. “That’s right. Now harder!” Zelena ordered. Rumple’s fingers became vices around Belle’s nipples.
At last, with a shudder, he came. He stopped, crying himself, and collapsed next to Belle. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Shaking, Belle tried to sit up. With a wave of Zelena’s hand, the gold chains around Belle’s wrists vanished, leaving behind welts already turning purple. Belle pulled her torn panties and stockings back on and tried to pull her blouse shut. Red hand marks covered her breasts, and trails of blood smeared her inner thighs.
"Nice work, Dark One.” Zelena even clapped her hands as she said it. “You think maybe she learned her lesson this time? Now run along home, dearie, and tell everyone what happens when you try to mess with what’s mine. Remember, I’m the one who ordered it, and I’m the one who freed you.” Zelena spat out. “I’m the one in control.”
As Belle shuffled out of the cellar, something soft hit her head. "And take this stupid little pillow with you."